So the other day I became aware of a rattling under my car as I drove. Upon a quick investigation I realized there was a fairly large piece of light metal that was loose and rattling around but did not look in danger of falling off.
The next day I had a bit of time, so I ran uptown and took the car to a mechanic. I told him what I had heard and seen and immediately he told me to pull up over the open pit so he could get underneath the vehicle and have a look. I wish I had taken a picture of that pit! My driver side wheels were on solid concrete at the left side of the pit, but as I pulled up over-top of the pit, my passenger side wheels had to line up with a small ramp that spanned the length of the pit, barely wider than my wheels and with hardly any side rails to protect me from falling off of it! Hope you can picture what I mean.
So I very very slowly crept onto the ramp and proceeded forward all the while keeping a watchful eye on the mechanic who was guiding me forward with hand signals, pointing me left or right as I crept forward. I have never driven so slow! Thankfully I reached the point where he signaled me to stop.
I got out of the car and he went down into the maybe 6-7 foot deep pit. He grabbed a socket and began to work. After maybe 4 to 5 minutes of tightening and banging around he emerged from the pit and told me that it was a heat deflector near my muffler that had come loose. He was fairly sure that the noise I had heard was coming from that piece which he had now secured. Satisfied at his explanation, I asked him what I owed him. This is the best part of the story and my reason for sharing it with you. He replied, "just by me a soda pop."
Hardly able to believe what I had heard and thinking that I misunderstood his Spanish I asked him to repeat himself and he said, "Well it was no big deal, just by me a soda pop."
I pulled out a 50 peso bill from my wallet (about $4 dollars) and said, "let me give you 50 pesos at least." He smiled a big smile and thanked me profusely!
I returned home, having been gone all of about 20 minutes, and only 50 pesos poorer!
Maybe this experience will help to make up for all the times where a "quick errand" took half the day as I waited for someone to show up to a scheduled appointment, or waited in a line-up for some sort!
Have a look at what the Elliott's are up to in Northern Mexico
